The present invention relates generally to toilet accessories for facilitating use of a commode or portable toilet. More particularly, this invention pertains to a toilet training aid to train children how to use a toilet and to reduce mess during the training process.
Numerous toilet training seats have been invented. None however aid in training how to use a toilet while standing, e.g. when a boy is urinating from a standing position. Many inventions pertaining to splash guards exist to reduce the area that urine spreads when it is not effectively directed toward a toilet bowl. The vast majority of these are shields located near the back of the toilet rim. The idea is that the urine hits the shield and runs down the front of it into the toilet bowl. There are numerous disadvantages with these types, including the fact many are cumbersome to install and remove as well as unsightly and awkward when left in place. Nor do they generally offer an effective "training" aid because the "target" presented is on the back of the toilet. This may lead little ones to "aim high," thereby training them to overshoot the bowl. Finally, none of the previous training devices combine a seat with a "stand-up" training aid.
It should be noted that children are not the only ones in need of a stand-up training or targeting aid. Mentally retarded persons, handicapped persons, and persons suffering from lost, or deficient, motor control would benefit from a device which helps to direct urine delivered from a standing position to the bowl. Many of these individuals, including toddlers, would also benefit from a toilet seat with added lateral support.
A device that solves many of these messy, awkward, and embarrassing problems and one that combines a training seat with a stand-up trainer is lacking in the prior art.
What is needed, then, is a device that is simple, easy to use, and will aid toilet training, particularly training to use of a toilet from a standing position. A simple device to reduce mess due to errant use of a toilet is needed. A portable commode which combines these needed features would also be useful. A device capable of facilitating lateral support of a commode user that incorporates the aforementioned features is lacking, and is needed for the aforementioned reasons.
In particular, a toilet accessory which is comfortable and sized for a child and combines a toilet training seat with a stand-up trainer is needed both for the sake of the child and the parents, or caretakers. The needed device should also reduce errant urine spray from between a toilet seat and a toilet rim.